I'm wondering 1) why the city would fund the Pantages and the Shubert but not HOTB; and 2) how the HOTB got all the way to its closing date without securing the city funding it thought it had.
According to past Strib articles, the city is spending $12M for the restorations of the Pantages and surrounding Stimson Building; and the city spent $4-5M moving the Shubert even though Artspace has yet to secure the remainder of its financing. [Note: the Strib also wrote that the MCDA is spending $6M to renovate the Stimson Building, which it plans to sell to Historic Theatre Group for $3.5M.] On the face of it, the HOTB sounds like a project the city would support: The theater wants the city to contribute only $500,000 (about 25% of total project costs); the project appears to have the remainder of it financing in place; the project has neighborhood support; the project is located in a place where revitalization has been occurring but is still fragile and needs strong anchors; etc. So, I want to know what went wrong. Why did HOBT think it had financing? What reason does the city give for not financing it? John Rocker Calhoun _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
